When we talk about American history, too often we forget that the Americas includes more than the United States.
Latinx (also called Latine) Heritage Month is a good time to remember how all Americans are part of an interconnected history. That is especially true today, when millions of immigrants from the Americas are being slandered and criminalized by the current administration. People have fled their homes in Mexico, Central, and South America often because of decades of U.S. military, economic, and climate policies that have exploited people and turned so many into refugees. And let’s remember, too, that much of the United States used to be Mexico, and that Mexicans have a history that stretches back to before there even was a United States.
In response to the disruptions wrought by U.S. policy, people throughout the Americas have sought to build lives of dignity in their original homelands, and also here. Whether we think of the Cuban Revolution, the election of the socialist Salvador Allende in Chile, the union activism of U.S. farmworkers, the Chicano student blowouts in East L.A., or today’s struggles against the racism and lawlessness of ICE — Latinx Heritage Month means we should teach about everyone’s work for justice. We offer free lessons and recommendations for books and films, including the titles below.>> See all resources
HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.